Communications Commission gives 3-month deadline to Caucasus Online to return 100% of sold shares to original state
The commission says that after the illegal alienation of 49% of the shares for $61 million back in 2019, Caucasus Online also illegally sold 51% of the shares to Weco Investments and Finance in March 2021 and both actions were not agreed upon with the commission in advance. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The Georgian National Communication Commission (GNCC), the regulatory body overseeing broadcasting and electronic communications, has set a three-month deadline for Georgian internet provider Caucasus Online to return 100% of its 'illegally alienated' shares to their original state, announces the Communication Commission.
The commission says that after the illegal alienation of 49% of the shares for $61 million back in 2019, Caucasus Online also illegally sold 51% of the shares to Weco Investments and Finance in March 2021 and both actions were not agreed upon with the commission in advance.
The commission demanded that the company reverse the transaction and restore the pre-sale status quo and to achieve this goal the GNCC appointed a special manager to Caucasus Online on October 1, 2020 until 49% of the alienated share of the company was returned to its original state.
However, the GNCC says that the court suspended the authority of the special manager and she could not return the shares to their original state.
Caucasus Online’s most important physical asset is the Caucasus Cable System, a 1,200-kilometer fiber-optic cable (FOC) constructed along the bottom of the Black Sea by Tyco Electronics (today known as TE Subcom), that directly transits Internet traffic from Europe to the South Caucasus and the Caspian basin.
Azerbaijani Neqsol Holding owned by businessman Nasib Hasanov has become the 100% owner of Georgian internet provider Caucasus Online. The former owner of Caucasus Online Khvicha Makatsaria transferred his 51% stake to Hasanov a few days ago, who had purchased a 49% stake in the company for $61 million back in 2019.
The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission says the amendments to the Georgian Law on Electronic Communication ‘leads to far reaching consequences for the right of property and media freedom as well as for the right to a fair trial’.
Neqsol Holding, a shareholder of Georgian internet provider Caucasus Online, is going to sue the Georgian government in the International Court of Arbitration for appointing a special manager to the board of Caucasus Online, who has been given the authority, amongst other things, to dismiss directors, members of the supervisory board and employees of the company, and suspend or restrict its right to distribute.
The Georgian government is going to appeal against the decision made by the International Arbitration Institute of Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Stockholm in the Omega Group case, according to which the Georgian government has been banned from enforcing the judgment of the Tbilisi City Court.
Tbilisi Court of Appeal on Tuesday rejected the defamation claim of the owner of Neqsol Holding, an Azerbaijani company that acquired shares in the Georgian internet provider Caucasus Online in 2019 and 2020, against the Georgian National Communication Commission.